Good morning — and Happy United Nations Day!
These days, we take the concept of the modern nation-state, with sovereignty over set borders, for granted — mostly — but it really only dates back to this date in 1648, when the Treaty of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years War, was signed.
Ebola –> A doctor in New York City has tested positive for the disease. He recently returned from Guinea, where he treated Ebola patients. CNN has the story. ALSO: At The Medium, Zeynep Tufekci writes that while Ebola is not something to worry about in countries with functional health care systems, “we should panic” about how West Africa is being ravaged by the disease and what it “reveals about how ineffective our global decision-making infrastructure has become.”
Craven –> WaPo’s Lori Montgomery reports that, “with Republicans in striking distance of winning the Senate, they are suddenly blasting the idea of trimming Social Security benefits.” In a handful of races, outside groups are running ads accusing Democrats of wanting to cut the program but not saying that they only supported the cuts as a concession to the GOP when a “grand bargain” was on the table in DC.
Pick your poison –> A new Pew poll finds that both major political parties are unpopular with the voters. Democrats are slightly more popular — and do better on questions like, “which party is more concerned about the needs of people like you?” — but on “several major issues,” Republicans hold the edge.
“Plutocrats Against Democracy” –> Paul Krugman says that from Hong Kong to DC and everywhere else conservative elites are terrified by even the glimmer of economic populism.
Battle gear –> MoJo’s Shane Bauer spent some quality time at Urban Shield, the premier convention for the arms manufacturers that equip police SWAT teams and other “first responders.”
Kingmakers? –> At The Atlantic, Peter Beinart notes that next year there may be three senators elected as independents, and lays out a scenario where they form a swing block that could ultimately moderate the chamber.
Press intimidation? –> Bruce Rauner is a wealthy businessman who wants to be governor of Illinois. Dave McKinney, a veteran political reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times alleges that he was pushed out of his job when the paper folded to the Rauner campaign’s hardball tactics. The Chicago Tribune has the story at the link above (and here is McKinney’s public letter of resignation).
Good question –> After a speech by feminist Anita Sarkeesian was cancelled after death threats — and because officials at the University of Utah said they were barred by law from screening people at the event for concealed weapons — TAP’s Harold Meyerson asks, “When guns trample speech, do we have a democracy?”
Must credit Lysistrata –> Agence France Presse: “A group of South Sudanese women peace activists has suggested that men in the civil war-torn country be denied sex until they stop fighting.” (Via: The Raw Story.)
Paranoid much? –> Mother Jones released a brief video accompanying their Urban Shield story that shows how tough it is for reporters to crack the thin blue line around police militarization…
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